- Notts County are unbeaten in 5 with 1 win and 4 draws, drawing their last 2 games on the bounce.
- Bradford City have won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5, losing 1-2 at home to Cambridge United last weekend but recovering with a 1-0 home win against Mansfield Town.
- Notts County sit 12th in League One 2026/2027 with 7 points from 5 games. Bradford City are 4th with 9 points from 5.
Notts County are the value bet for a tight game
Notts County are a 56/25 shot to beat the odds to win this fixture, but the draw at 11/5 is perhaps the better bet in this game of two well-poised sides. Bradford City are 113/100 for the win, but this looks a lot closer than that on paper.
Both Notts County and Bradford City line up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, but they are very different in terms of style and temperament. Notts County boss Martin Paterson, who has overseen the Magpies since 22nd June 2025, has made the team more pragmatic and workmanlike in that time.
They are much more set up to get bodies behind the ball and counter-press the opposition hard when they can't get forward. Notts have a more narrow build-up play than Bradford, but they have more energy in the wings and in their pressing game. The result is a team that can be compact but can still get in behind the opposition and service Oliver Cooper, their main spark, who has 3 goals in 5 League One 2026/2027 games, 3 of Notts' last 6.
Bradford are a more open, free-flowing team
Bradford City have an attacking system, but they are more aggressive and press much higher up. Their tempo comes more from the wing-backs and frontline, so their transition game can flip the game in seconds. Graham Alexander, who took charge on 6th November 2023, has kept the Bantams punchy, direct and relentless, but they have left a few too many points on the table.
Aden Baldwin has been Bradford City's top scorer so far in the League One 2026/2027 season, with 1 goal in 5 games, making him a key threat from deeper areas. The visitors have won 1 and lost 1 from 2 away games in the league so far, but they average just 0.50 goals per-game away from home.
Two sides who are in transition
The last meeting of these two in a league-style game finished 1-1 at Valley Parade, and Bradford have failed to win their last 2 away games against Notts County. With the odds on Bradford for the result, we're avoiding them here and siding with the draw at 11/5.
The best call is for this to be a close game. The hosts will try to keep the game tight and make it a test of who is better when things get chaotic, while Bradford will try to turn the chaos into end-to-end soccer. Notts will have the edge in terms of turnovers and wing-back vs wing-back battles, but Bradford's pressing can make life very difficult for the Magpies. We're going for Notts County to nick this, but a 1-1 draw isn't far behind.
